Happy are the Merciful

Mercy sounds like a church word until you put it under pressure: would the people closest to us call us merciful, or would they say we’re quick to get offended, slow to forgive, and committed to winning? We open Matthew 5:7 and follow the Beatitudes as they pivot from the internal life with God to the external life with people. The claim is simple and unsettling: if we’ve truly received mercy from Jesus, that mercy has to spill out into how we treat others.

We get specific about mercy vs grace, because they’re not the same. Grace is receiving what we do not deserve. Mercy is the deep compassion that moves us to act. That definition changes everything. It reframes how we see the lost, how we talk about forgiveness, and why self-protection can look “wise” while quietly killing our witness. We walk through the Good Samaritan as a real-world test: mercy notices, crosses the road, gets involved, and pays a cost.

Then we land on the sharp edge of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 25: caring for “the least of these” is not extra credit, it’s a revealing fruit. We talk about bitterness, the need to always be right, and the temptation to ask “what’s in it for me?” instead of asking “what does love require here?” We close with a practical challenge: choose one person every day this week and turn compassion into action.

If this stirred something in you, share it with a friend who needs hope, subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next, and leave a review to help more people find the show. Who is one person you can show mercy to today?

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Transcript

Welcome And A Hard Question

Josh 0:00

Alright. Well, good morning. I hope everyone is well. I hope the heat is not getting too much. I don't know about y'all's house, but our air conditioning really is struggling this summer to keep up with everything. And I pray everyone's ready to get into this because we're gonna start to see a shift in what we've been studying throughout the Be Attitudes this morning. Our big idea that we're gonna jump into today is this happy are the merciful. And as we start with that, I want to ask: would people in your life, the people that know you, and I'm not talking about like the people who know your name, the people who actually know you, would they call you merciful? Would they sit here and go, hey, like that is someone who just overflows with mercy? Or would they describe you as a person who, I don't know, maybe holds on to anger, holds on to bitterness, maybe you carry a grudge. Like, is that what people would, yes, mercy less. Is that how people would describe you? And I hope as we move through this that um that we challenge ourselves. Because remember, if we're not honest with ourselves, like it's easy to sit here and go, oh yes, yes, I of course I'm merciful. But if we're not challenging ourselves and we're not sitting here allowing the Holy Spirit to sit here and root these things out of our heart, then understand change cannot happen. That's what it means to grieve the Spirit. That's what it means to feel those things inside and go, I'm just gonna shove that back down. And then we wonder why things aren't changing. So I'm gonna pray and then we're gonna jump into it. Father, I thank you so much for your word, and I ask and I pray, God, that as we go through your word this morning, that it is just that, your word. That is not my opinion, it is not my thought, that I just take myself completely out of it. But Father, that you speak to your people just using me as a tool for your kingdom and your glory. Father, I ask and I pray that that hearts are changed, that chains can break. Father, I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

The Beatitudes Turn Outward

Josh 2:17

Alright, so to jump in, we're in Matthew 5, 7, and it says this blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. And as we dive into it, like I said, there's this switch now in the beatitudes. Up until this point, the beatitudes that Jesus has been talking about deal with our inner workings, deal with our relationship with Him. There's actually a parallel between the beatitudes that we we've seen in the Ten Commandments. Like if you didn't under uh realize this before, that the first four of the Ten Commandments deal with our relationship with God. It is a vertical, what we call a vertical relationship. So think about it. You shall have no other gods but me. You shall not make carvened image of other idols, you shall, like, those are dealing with our relationship with God. And then the last six commandments deal with our relationship with each other. So think about it like this: you shall not covet, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not lie. Those are things that we do with one another. And so again, when we see the Ten Commandments, we can see that some deal with our relationship with God, some deal with our relationship with others. And Jesus is doing the same thing here in the Beatitudes. The first four we looked at dealt with our own hearts and dealt with how we view ourselves in light of Christ. And that now what we're gonna see is those who, like, for example, in Matthew 5, 3, where we saw, blessed are the poor in spirit. Well, if I see myself as poor in spirit, I can look at myself and go, there's nothing good inside of me inherently that deserved salvation that is going to cause me to be merciful. And so there's this relationship that exists between how I view myself and then how that outpours, how that that's a natural outpour towards others. See, Jesus is sitting here going, if you've seen my mercy, if you felt my mercy, then how can you withhold that? Like if you really understand the mercy that Jesus has extended to each and every one of us that are in Christ, if we can really sit here and go, like, I understand what it meant for Jesus to forgive me, how could I not then turn and look at others with the same mercy? See, and that's how these things are going to work together.

Mercy Versus Grace In Plain Words

Josh 4:56

Now, I do want to start with, we're gonna take a little deeper dive on mercy because there's a lot of times that especially as Christians, we can interchange mercy with other words. Like for instance, we always see mercy tied with what?

unknown 5:12

Grace.

Josh 5:12

Everyone. Yeah, grace. It's always mercy and grace, right? In fact, and later in this message, you're gonna hear in Ephesians 2, right? God being rich in mercy with the great love for which he loved us, made us alive together with Christ, for by grace you have been saved. And a lot of times we tie these two words together and not understand that they're very different things, though. Like they're they don't actually mean the same thing. Like if I were to go, hey, what is mercy? Does anybody have like a good, like, oh, this is what mercy is? And could you differentiate between that and grace?

unknown 5:55

Forgiveness.

Josh 5:56

Mercy is tied with forgiveness, it's tied with love, it's tied with all of these things. But but again, this is one of those words that we tend to use a lot.

unknown 6:05

Mercy.

Josh 6:06

Mercy killing? What is wrong with you? Alright, so I'm gonna need a new power of attorney as I start aging. Um, because my wife is just, I can only think of mercy killing.

unknown 6:20

Mercy is that.

Josh 6:29

So forgiveness. Grace is like giving something to someone inside of it. Okay. Now, see, when we talk about grace, just so we can understand what grace is, grace is receiving something we do not deserve. Right? Grace is going, hey, I don't deserve this, but yet I got this. Mercy is this word. Mercy is this word, um, a limon, which directly translates into a deep compassion for others that translates into action. In other words, mercy is a motivation. Mercy is a cause. Mercy is sitting here going, hey, because I have mercy, this is what I will do. See, grace is the giving. Mercy is what motivates that grace, though. So, yes, mercy, like when we look at mercy and forgiveness, they go together. Because if I've received mercy and have been forgiven, it can very easily now go, okay, since I've received this, I need to have compassion on others. Because when Jesus came and he found me, I wasn't looking for Jesus. I wasn't sitting here going, oh, there's something deadly inside of me that needs to be treated. Jesus went, no, I'm gonna go find the lost. That's why in Matthew, or I'm sorry, Luke 19, 10, he says, the Son of Man came to seek and save what is lost. Because what was lost was not seeking to be saved. Jesus didn't sit, we weren't sitting here going, oh, there's something missing. It was God Himself who initiates that, who goes, Hey, I'm gonna woo you to myself. This is why, like, when do like okay, just to throw some statistics out, and they're not gonna be up on screen because it just hit me right now as I was preaching. So, does anybody know the percentage of adults, someone 18 and older, who find Jesus? About 20, what what was it, miss? Yes, about 20%. That means 80% of people who make a decision for Christ do so before they're 18 years old. You know why?

unknown 8:57

More open minded.

Josh 8:58

What was it? More open minded. More open-minded. You ever talk to an adult? Think about it. Just think, we're we're getting into political season again, right? Do we have conversations with each other? No, because we are very much, nope, this is what I believe. And I believe this regardless of whatever facts, whatever evidence, whatever you can bring against it, this is my belief. See, and it's very hard to talk to an adult. It's very hard to talk to someone, especially as we get older, right? Because the older we get, the more entrenched in what we already believe. And we're not as open to hearing this. That's why Jesus went, I came to seek what is lost. Because what is lost is not seeking me. So mercy, this deep compassion that I have. Do dead people know they're dead?

unknown 9:52

No.

Josh 9:53

No. They don't. Dead people have no idea that they are dead. So how on earth are these people who are dead in Christ going, hey, I want to go seek for Christ? But mercy allows me to go, hey, when I was lost, Jesus left the 99 to come find me. How on earth now can I sit here and go, no, I'm not. I'm just gonna hold on to this. Hey, thank you. I'm good. See, mercy is looking at others the way Jesus sees us and doing something about it. Understand, if you're not doing something about it, you are not being merciful. It's looking at others and going, they can't help themselves. They don't even know to help themselves. But when we were lost, really, were you spending your time going, hey, I need to find something? No, most of us were enjoying the life we were living. Most of us were sitting here going, there's nothing missing. Most of us were sitting here going, I'm just on to my next high. I'm just trying to fill this void that I have in me. And most of us weren't thinking past our noses.

Seeing The Lost Like Jesus Does

Josh 11:15

The greatest and clearest example I could give you of mercy is actually a parable of the Good Samaritan. And Luke 10, if you're not familiar with this, we see Jesus give this parable. And there's this guy who is beaten and robbed and left for dead on the side of the road. And a Pharisee walks by. Now the Pharisee sees this person who he believes is dying or dead on the side of the road. And the Pharisee, being a good Pharisee, goes, I cannot come into contact with an unclean dead body. So the Pharisee goes, It's not even worth me walking over there to check out because I am so holy and righteous, and literally walks across the road to walk past the man. Not realizing that it was Jesus who took the tide, whatever, magic stuff, to remove our stain. So now who are we to go, we can't be stained by the world? So the Pharisee walks by, then a Levite, a priest, a holy tribe, who wasn't even allowed to let have land because God went, You're gonna be my priest in this land. He comes by and he does the same thing the Pharisee. He just acts like he doesn't see it. And this again describes the church. Look at the city we live in. How are we walking around with blinders going, oh no, everything's all good? We're just like, we're just gonna keep like this, and we're just gonna keep looking forward, and we're just gonna keep walking. And then a Samaritan. Now, let me go ahead and explain this because the Bible doesn't shy away from sin. The Jews were very racist towards the Samaritans. They would not even walk in Samaria because they did not want to get the dirt of Samaria on them because of how disgusted they were with Samaritans. Now, Jesus corrects this over and over and over again, so I'm not making the argument that it's okay to have these prejudices in races. Racism, whatever. You guys know what I'm trying to say. Now, the Samaritan, the scourge of the earth. And the reason is, okay, just to give you guys a history in case you weren't familiar, Samaria used to be Israel. But right around 800 BC, Israel in the north, the northern kingdom, separates from the southern kingdom of Judah. And so now Israel becomes a divided kingdom. It's right after King Solomon, right? So after King Solomon Rehabam takes the throne and there's this split in Israel. And they actually have a northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah and Benjamin. Well, the Assyrians come in and they take over the northern kingdom. And the northern kingdom becomes a place where all of the conquered people that Assyria has, they just dump all the prisoners of war into what is Israel. Well, then they start marrying and intermarrying with all of these different people from all of these different nations, and the southern kingdom goes, you guys are no longer, you are these half-breed Jews. You are no longer God's chosen people. You have diluted yourself. And that is where this animosity stems from. So what is happening is Jesus goes, and the Samaritan, this person that you look down on, this person that you go is garbage, this person that you go is just the scourge of the earth. The Samaritan walks by and he sees this guy on the side of the road, and he has compassion on him. He looks at him and he goes, There's someone hurting. There's someone who needs help. There's someone who can't help themselves. There is someone that I can step in and I can help. And that compassion, that deep level of compassion that causes action. In verse 34, we saw, and he went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. And then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an end and took care of him. And what Jesus is trying to get them to understand is that is what mercy is. It's sitting here going, hey, we may be different. We may not look the same. We may not talk the same. We might, and I know it's a cardinal sin here in America, we might not vote the same, but none of that matters. Because at the end of the day, we are all made in the same image of God. Every single one of us, red, yellow, black, and white, we are precious in his sight. See, some of us we we forget those children's songs that had that deep theology in them. And this guy sees someone who needs help, and he doesn't sit here and go, oh, he's a Jew and I can't help him. He's moved with compassion. And that compassion causes action. And we see in verse 34, and not only does it cause action, understand. If you kept reading and you get into verse 35, this cost the Samaritan. In fact, in verse 35, he leaves him at the inn and he gives the innkeeper two denarii. And he goes, I'm gonna go, I have some stuff to take care of, and when I come back, you take care of him and I'll pay you whatever I owe you. Two denari, for those of you that don't know, is about two days' worth of pay. So how many of us in this room, like when we see someone who needs, we're giving up two days worth of our pay. I'm not saying you fished around and found the change in the cup holder and you were like, here, here's what I here's what's left over. This guy's going, no, like my pay. I'm giving you my pay. See, there's a cost that comes with mercy. And it's usually a deep personal cost. And it's not always monetarily, but it's this compassion

Good Samaritan Mercy Costs Something

Josh 17:55

that I have. And Jesus is sitting here going, blessed, happy are the merciful. Happy are the ones that think about others. Happy are the ones that realize this life doesn't revolve around you. I don't know why me and Debbie had this conversation this week. But we were talking about like death and what happens. And I went, Deb, you know, like it just dawned on, like it just was like clear as day. I forget what night it was, probably Wednesday. Where I went, if I died, you know the world keeps spinning, right? Like, yeah, there's people that'll miss me. But the world's gonna keep going. Just like it's done always. So why am I not motivated to do more? Why am I not motivated to make more of an impact? Why do we think it just revolves around us? See, Jesus is going happy and merciful because they're not bound up in themselves. The world, that's what the world teaches. The world teaches you this. Look out for. Oh, so you guys were all taught the same things too? Look out for yourself, because you're the only one who will. Your happiness, your your life, your career, all of that, that rides on you. Do you really think that like mission scent just came into being because me and Debbie were just so amazing at what we do? And I'm not saying that we don't bring talent to the table. But do you realize the doors that had to open up? Like some of y'all, y'all were there. You remember sitting in that city hall chamber? And it wasn't like every single member on that city hall chamber was sitting here going, hey, we believe in this, and this is a good thing. We had that one guy that argued for us and then argued against us and then argued for us again, and then had some ridiculous explanation after. See, God went, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Like I got this. I'm gonna open up all the doors that need to be open. It may be uncomfortable, and you may have to work at this, but this isn't about you guys. This is about me and my glory. And when it's about me and my glory, nothing is going to stop it. When Joshua hit Jericho and he's looking at these walls that are so thick that you could ride 10 horses side by side. You don't think Joshua at any point stopped and went, them some thick concrete walls there. They got archers all up here. And God went, yeah, but here's what you're gonna do. You're just gonna walk around it. That's all you're gonna do. You're not gonna go get the battering rams, you're not gonna like get ladders to climb up on the wall so you can take the city from the inside out. You're not gonna do this in your power, you're gonna walk around it. Because my glory is gonna be shown. And when I move my hand, these walls ain't nothing to me. And the walls came. See? Do y'all understand the importance of children's church now? Like all of these songs, they matter. Because let's be honest, we're not young kids anymore, and we can still quote them just as good. And see, and understanding, mercy is sitting here, the world's sitting here going, hey, you stack up for you, and that'll make you happy. And Jesus goes, No, no, no, no, no, no. You stack up for others, and that'll make you happy. You take what I give you and you pour it out to other people, and that'll make you happy. If you don't believe me, again, so again, this just hit this morning. Y'all know the slideshow that comes on. Well, for those of you who get here actually early enough to see, there's a slideshow that happens before the five minute mark. Like while we're talking and everything, just kind of hanging out with each other. And one of the slides on there says Uncle Joe's barbecue. And this morning someone asked me, Hey, is that place any good? To which I responded, you've had it plenty of times. And they went, No, no, no, no, no, but is it good? And I went, that's our barbecue. Like, that's the church barbecue right there. And they were like, Oh, it is good. And I go, and again, you can ask Joe after service if you don't believe me. I have no problem waking up at 3:30 in the morning to come up here and kick the tires and light the fires and spend all day pouring sweat because I know at four o'clock that afternoon, when someone takes that rib or someone takes some pork or something, not the brisket. We got some work to do on the brisket. I get that. Last two haven't turned out really good. And they take that bite, and then you see that face, it's all worth it at that point. See, that's what mercy causes. It causes me to look at others and get joy from giving. In Acts 20, 35, Paul is saying this. The words of our Lord, it is better to give than receive. There is so much more of a blessing that comes with giving. There is so much more of a blessing. I did not realize it when I was younger. Because Christmas came, right? And you were all excited because you're thinking about all of the things you're gonna get. And yeah, we would do the Christmas shop or whatever it's called nowadays at school, and for $7.25, I could get everyone in the family a Christmas present. And God bless my mom, every year she went, This is the most amazing thing I've ever gotten. And I'm like, it's a dollar twenty-five. I loved it. Because her joy wasn't in what she was getting. Her joy was, no, I want to watch your face as you open these presents. The joy is sitting here going, no, I want to watch your face as you bite into this barbecue. The joy for me taking people out fishing. I love, I cannot explain it. Debbie, the other night, caught her first trout on an artificial lure. And her excitement was just, it made the whole trip worth it. Because like she is struggle, she was on the struggle bus. And finally, I was like, look, here, take my pole, use my lure, and all you have to do is cast it right there. And then just reel in. You don't have to reel in fast, you don't have to do any of the crazy twitches, you don't have to do any of that. Just cast it right there and reel in. And all of a sudden, her smile, if you if you if you saw it on social media, her smile was huge. Because look at what I've done. This is what mercy does. It's having a deep compassion. Those of you that are in here and you're like struggling mentally, and you've reached out to me, have I not offered you to take you out fishing? You know why I've done that? Because I know you get on the boat, it's not a 42-foot Viking, but I know the smile you're gonna have when you come back. Even if it's a slow fishing day. Even if it's one of those days that I mean, we didn't catch a whole lot. Because there's just something so peaceful about it. You get to meet God in nature, you get to be calm. Some of y'all, when we did the beach baptisms, I'm driving you back to the dock, and you're like, I heard you sitting there talking with your family, and you're like, um, might be time to think about getting a boat. And all you did was drive from the dock to the island, from the island back to the dock. Yeah, there's something about it. And that's what mercy does, is it motivates this deep compassion. Now,

Why Giving Brings Real Joy

Josh 25:36

what does it mean to be merciful, though? Full of mercy. What does that mean? Well, like you've heard me talk about so many times. What have you done in your life to deserve Jesus saving you? Okay, I'm gonna walk through it and it's gonna sound like I'm bragging, but I'm doing this to prove a point, okay? I have given thousands of dollars away to people I know, people I don't know. I have mowed people's lawns. In fact, it's one of my greatest joys now that I have a riding lawn mower. My neighbors love the fact that we made a purchase. I've fixed people's houses and cars. And do I ever ask for money in return? No. We started the sharing center so we could give away food and clothes. And you'd be shocked at how many people walk in there and go, like, do I have to pay? Like it's a discounted thrift shop. And we're like, nope, just take it. I've preached, I and it was hard for me this week because I had to like sit down and figure out like this. So I don't have an exact number, but I know I've preached over 300 sermons where, God willing, it has been all about God's glory and grace, his love and mercy. Our podcast combined with our YouTube have over 50,000 people have heard. I go, I've done puppets for kids in the park. I've done clown work, I've gone to nursing homes and orphanages. I've spent a lot of time and money getting a lot of different degrees so I can teach this. And yet, as Paul would say in Philippians 3, I count it all as a loss. None of this put me in a position where Jesus goes, okay, now. Now you're worthy of it. And too many of us, that's what we're trying to work for. We're trying to be worthy of it. We're trying to be deserving of it. We're trying to sit here and go, okay, yeah, Jesus, you might have done the heavy part, but at least I did this part. But when we really stop and we look at our lives, we have to come to the honest conclusion, we brought nothing to the table. Think about it. Any one of you, did you pick your parents? Did any one of you go, hey, I want to be born? None of us, right? But yet, you were born. Yet God gave you parents, and hey, some are better than others. Let's not lie. None of them are better than mine. And that's only because I get to have the microphone and get to say that. It's called brownie points. If y'all learned to do it, you would be your parents' favorite too. But what that does is it causes me to go, I brought nothing to this, and yet Jesus went, I still want you. Do you guys understand how powerful that is? Debbie a lot of times looks for why I love her. I don't know if it's insecurities on her part, but we have a lot of different conversations about why. Like, why are you with me? Why did why like why? And my answer is always the same. And for those of you that are thinking it's gonna be a deep, like loving answer, I hate to shock you, it's not. I went because I chose to be. That's it. At the end of the day, it's because I choose to. And at the end of the day, Jesus is sitting here going, hey, it doesn't matter what you brought to the table. It doesn't matter how amazing you are or are not. At the end of the day, I chose you. And I went, I love you. And I want to be with you, and I want to walk with you, and I want to put my spirit inside of you. And when he does, when Jesus is merciful to us, Ephesians 2.10 happens, right? That we walk in good deeds that God prepared beforehand. Why did I do all of this? Why do I can why can I look back and go, hey, here's my list of accomplishments? Because Jesus put his spirit in me and went, now go glorify me by doing all of the things that you already do. This is why we started. Because I went, hey, that's the message of scripture. Go out there and glorify Jesus. Whatever it is you're doing, whether you eat or drink, do all for the glory of God. That is what being mercyful and being full of mercy is. It's sitting here going, hey, I don't have to be the person at the front of the room with the microphone. Some of y'all, I get it. I could be like, here, here, here who wants this. And I'm gonna be honest, I was out of Miss Holly. I don't know if anyone's gonna take it. Because our biggest fear is being in front of people and talking. But let me ask you, are there things in your life that you could be doing to glorify Jesus with the things that are already in your life? Do you have to have a microphone to do this? Do you have to get up here and exegete scripture? Some of you, if you have kids that are that are like in high school at Mission Academy, they're gonna learn how to do all of it this year. They're gonna learn hermeneutics and they're gonna learn how to break down passages and they're gonna learn how to like actually treat scripture as scripture. But do you need to be able to do all of that to glorify Jesus? Do you think that the Samaritan walking down the road went, hey, I can bring every lofty argument and theological debate to this man on the side of the road? Or did he just go, hey, there's someone who needs help? You guys do realize we have a prison, a state prison and a county jail in our county. How come no one's sitting here and going, hey, can we put something together? Like, could you reach out for me? Is there any way you can make an in or a contact? Because I don't know if y'all know this or not, but I happen to know quite a few people who work in law enforcement in the county. Spent many years, and it's so funny because when I look at the webpage now, all the guys I started with, they're not just street level deputies anymore. So they got some pool. How come no one's reached out and been like, hey, here's what I want to do? Can we go do this? I promise you, you come to me with an idea, I have no problem running with it. I have no problem going, okay, but let's think bigger because we serve a God who can do far more than I can even imagine. If you don't know, I have a very vivid imagination. Like I am that kid that had multiple imaginary friends growing up. Because one wasn't enough. We needed one for bathtime, we needed one for out in the yard, we needed one for climbing trees, we needed one for going into holes. I had a whole world that existed. And yet, Jesus and yet now here's what you gotta ask yourself later today. Did they go away? Okay? Like think through that as you go through your day. Because I can fish by myself all day long. I'm for you. But sit here and think about it. Mercy is sitting here going in everything I do, in everything I do, I need to be moved by compassion. And here's why. Because God, rich in mercy, with a great love, for which He loved us, made us alive together in Christ, for by grace you have been saved. That's how this whole thing kicks off. That's how it starts right there, with mercy. Last week we talked about earning the right to be heard. That's how we earn it. We are merciful to others. In everything I do. I stop worrying about all the petty little arguments. Who cares that you were right? Who said that? And she thought she was whispering. That's the opposite of merciful, by the way. That's merciless. I have to be right. Do I struggle with it? I'm not saying there's no such thing as truth. Okay? If it comes against Jesus and his deity, here's what I'm saying. Think about the past five arguments you've had with your spouse. I mean, really were they. Really were they worth it?

unknown 34:41

Yeah.

Josh 34:44

We're gonna need the oil after service. We definitely hands. Because God being rich in mercy. Understand we were enemies of God. Understand we were we were not good people looking for a little bit of help. We were dead people who had nothing and no like no qualms about seeking. We were happy where we were. We were happy being dead, and yet God, rich in mercy, made us alive. You are saved by grace caused by mercy. And yet we withhold. Yet we sit here and go, I have to be right. We sit here and go, no, I don't need to do that. We sit here and go, what's in it for me? We sit here and go, I'm not gonna give. My money's hard to come by. You wanna know something? So is everyone else's. Like you could sit here, and I hear so many people, especially online, like like try to talk down Elon. Yeah, he's a trillionaire, and that that just blows my mind. But guys, it wasn't like he found a trillion dollars while he was walking down the street. It wasn't like it was easy to come by. But yet, how many of us? That's what we do. We take, we go, these are the things God has given me so that I can give others, because it's better to give than receive. Those of you walking around with bitterness and anger and all of that poison that is killing you from the inside out, because you just can't get over it. Because you can't believe that someone, and I get it, I'm not minimizing that. There's a reason why I went into law enforcement. Because I do believe in justice. But those of you holding on to all that bitterness and anger and that poison that's killing you, let me ask you: have you experienced the mercy Jesus gave you? Because you were that person that you're holding on to. You were that person that didn't deserve forgiveness. You were that person that wasn't doing the right things. Those of us in here who can't be bothered to give up our time. Because it's my time. I worked, I deserve. You sound like a little child. That is what you sound like. You can't be bothered to give up your time? What if someone didn't give up their time for you? Where would you be? What if Jesus went, hey, no, no, no, no, no. I'm not leaving glory. I can't be bothered with that. Kill them all. Because listen, he would have been completely justified, those of us in here who are like, oh, justice, justice, justice, he would have been completely justified in that. Because didn't he say, if you sin, you shall die? Raise your hand if you're sinless. Uh-oh. So those of us that can't be bothered to give up our time, have you experienced the mercy of Jesus? Those of us in here who can't give monetarily. And yes, that means money for those of you who are unfamiliar with that word. Or food. And listen, y'all don't hear me preach a lot about money. One, because I preach expositionally, so if the Bible isn't talking about it, I'm not just gonna shoehorn it into a sermon. My goal is not to stand up here and guilt trip you into giving. You know why? Because Mission Academy pays for everything here. I don't get paid from the church. I get paid because I come and I work 70 hours a week with kids. Like that's what I get paid for. And I sit here and I go, but those of you that can't give, have you experienced mercy? Like, were you given something that was motivated by mercy? And when I say give, I'm not sitting here going, oh, tithing. Because if you look around, we don't have people at the end of service that are forcing a plate inside your face, are they? We don't have a box set up anywhere that goes, hey, put money here. Shame on me, I probably should. And I do think I am doing a disservice to you because this should cost you something. Because isn't that what Luke 9 says? That there's a cost of following Jesus. But I'm talking about bringing in food. And I'll tell you right now, stop bringing in your clothes. We don't need any more clothes. We we don't have anywhere else to put clothes right now. If we get short on clothes, I will let you know. But right now, no one's taking clothes. They are taking food. And those of you that go to the grocery store, you understand why. And we can be merciful and give that. But those of us who can't give, have we experienced the mercy of Jesus? Were we given something that we didn't deserve? Those of us who can't look at the lost and be heartbroken. Those of us in here who go, they brought it upon themselves, in other words. And I'm gonna tell you, there's a lot of people in this world that brought it upon themselves. There's a lot of people in this world you can look at and go, nope, your problem is your problem because you chose X, Y, and Z. Listen to me very carefully. I could say the same thing about each and every one of us in this room. Whatever it is your mind can go back to, understand you caused that. It was your decisions. But yet again, did Jesus extend mercy to us? So who are we to withhold mercy from others? Who are we to not be merciful?

Bitterness, Justice, And False Faith

Josh 40:36

Who are we to sit here and go, you don't deserve? Because listen to me, church, more of the church sounds like Jonah than we do Jesus. And if you don't understand that illustration, God told Jonah, go to Nineveh, preach of me, preach of repentance, and I will save them. And Jonah's response to God was they don't deserve it. Now, ultimately, if you're familiar with the story, I don't have a kid song for this one, but most of you heard it in kids' church. What happened to Jonah?

unknown 41:10

Do you want anyway? He fell.

Josh 41:12

Yes, he well, he got thrown off the boat because of the great storm, and he was like, This is all on me, and then he is swallowed by the great fish and spends three days in the fish. And then where does he wind up? Guys, we can do it the easy way or we can do it the hard way. My football coach said, Do it wrong, do it long, do it uh, do it wrong, do it long. That's the only part I remember because do it right, do it like we never got the right light part. Um, it was always you did it wrong again. Again, men, again. That's the church, though. More of us look like Jonah than we do Jesus. Because Jesus, when he's being murdered on the cross for a death that he did not deserve, and Luke 23, 34 scream or is praying to the Father and says this, Father forgive them, they know not what they do. How many of us in this world look at others with that same kind of mercy and go, they know not what they do? You may be the reason they get to understand what they do. Have you ever stopped and thought about that? You may be the one that walks them to the cross. You may be the one that goes, hey, here's Jesus and here's everything he's done. And all it took was having mercy. All it took was having a deep compassion, realizing that that crackhead may not know what they're doing. That that person who is locked up may not fully understood. And listen to me very carefully. I'm not saying they didn't fully understand their actions, they chose their actions. I get that. But a dead person can't think. And if they are outside of Christ, guess what? They're not sitting here thinking like Jesus. And it may be you that gets to bring that to them. Because if you are in Christ, understand mercy was extended to you. How can we now sit here and go, I will not extend mercy? How can we withhold that? And again, I'm not talking about justice. Justice is something completely different. Getting what you deserve and all of that. But let me ask you, do you really want what you deserve? So it seems like all of us want mercy. All of us are good with mercy when it's coming to us. But how many of us are good with mercy when it's going to someone else? How many of us are heartbroken looking around the world? How many of us are sitting here going, if maybe we were moved with a deep compassion? Then maybe they would hear who Jesus is. But instead, we're not murdered. Merciful. We're not compassionate. We're fat and we're lazy. And we go, I'm good. Listen, I have no retirement plan. I really don't. I have fully settled that I am gonna work until the day I die. Now my work may look different at different stages in my life. But not once do Debbie and I ever sit down and go, hey, so when we retire? Because I have no intention of doing that. I fully believe that if I ever got to a point where I retired, I would die. I'm not the kind of person that's just gonna sit still. I'm not knocking retirement. But listen, and I'm not talking about I'm gonna work the same job for the rest of my life. But I just can't sit still. That's just not me. In fact, I heard a story, or not a story, statistics about cops. Do y'all realize that 75% of all cops who retire wind up dead within the first, like, I think it was four years? Because think about it, you've spent your entire career hitting like 180 beats per minute and then trying to drop it back down to 90 beats a minute. And then all it takes is for you to hear on the radio ding, ding, ding, ding, and that heart immediately jumps back up. The adrenaline starts flowing, and then all of a sudden one day it just stops. And your heart is literally sitting here going, What do I do now? And I go, mercy is sitting here going. It's not about me. It's not about what I bring to the table. I'm gonna start closing by saying this in Matthew 25, 37. In Matthew 25, 37, Jesus gives us another parable. In this parable, he's talking about giving, and he and they he's sitting here going, When I was naked, you clothed me. When I was hungry, you fed me, when I was in prison, you visited me. And his disciples, and that's where we're picking it up in verse 37, his disciples go, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you a drink? They're literally sitting here going, we never saw you like that. Like we didn't do that stuff for you. And Jesus answers them in verse 40 by saying, This, when you did it for the least of these, you did it for me. In other words, when you did it for the people that couldn't do it, you weren't doing it for them. You were doing it for me. When you were feeding those who couldn't feed themselves, when you were clothing them who couldn't clothe themselves, when you visited, and they literally use that example, in prison, you were visiting me. You were doing what I commanded you to do. You were being merciful. So he's given that a boy to his disciples. He's going, You did these things, and when you did it for the least of these, you did it for me. And then the very next verse in verse 41, we see this. These are the people that withheld mercy. These are the people that didn't do it for the least of these. And Jesus in the very next verse says, Then he will say to those on his left, What? Depart from me. We're gonna get to Matthew 7 eventually. And if you were a Christian, it should terrify you. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, didn't I? Didn't I preach in your name? Didn't I cast out demons in your name? Didn't I heal the sick in your name? And I will say, Depart from me, for I never knew you, you workers of lawlessness. And again in Matthew 25, what is Jesus saying? Depart from me. There is such a thing as a false salvation. There is such thing as sitting here going, oh, I'm all good. And what Jesus is sitting here saying is, there is no way you can withhold mercy if you have experienced mercy. There's none. So the only way we can do that is we have not really experienced mercy. And so I start with, as I close, some of us need to realize that it is a gift. I've quoted Ephesians 2 like 18 times in the sermon. When you get to Ephesians 8, 2, 8, and 9, it says this, for by grace you have been saved through faith, and it is not of your own doing. It wasn't that we sat here and went, I need it. But God, being rich in mercy, with the great love for which he loved us, made us alive. And some of you in here today, that's where you need to start. You need to sit here and go, I want to experience that mercy. I want to experience Jesus. I need salvation. And then some of us, here's the thing: you've experienced it. You know who Jesus is. Listen, if you've experienced mercy, blessed are the merciful. In other words, you need to be full of mercy. You need to err on the side of giving too much mercy. Because it's not up to you to bring justice. The book of James says there is one judge and he is at the door. Anyone in here, are you at the door? Are you the judge that the book of James is talking about? No. Your job is to be merciful.

One Person A Day Challenge

Josh 49:29

So as we move through this week, our challenge changes from the abstract, from the thinking and processing and reflecting to the practical. Listen very carefully. Every day this week, be merciful. Show mercy. Be full of mercy. Be full of a deep compassion that causes action for others. For some of us, this is easy. Your spouse, show her or him mercy. Listen, I don't care how well you can argue. I'm a really, really, really good debater. I really can argue. And not once in 25 years have I ever had an argument with Debbie where at the end of it she looked at me and went, thank you. My eyes have been opened. It doesn't matter how many facts I bring up, it doesn't matter the evidence proves the totality of the circumstances. None of that matters. You know what that means? My goal shouldn't be to change her with an argument. My goal should be merciful to her. And vice versa. I will tell you right now. I don't know if there's an argument that Debbie could bring up that I would be like, oh, okay, you're right. Yeah, when when understand I'm the first one I preach to, guys. Those of us in here that struggle with having to be right, that's me all day.

unknown 51:05

Walk carefully, she believes in mercy killing.

Josh 51:08

Right? I just found that out today, though. That's the worst part. I want to explain that. Can I explain? Can I finish? Yes.

unknown 51:16

I want to explain.

Josh 51:18

You can show me mercy later, okay? Away from everybody. This is why, honestly, guys, this is why I carry everywhere I go. It's not even the bad guys out there. It's to protect myself from my wife. Okay? Gotta cut that out of the recording, by the way. Some of you in here, like you got kids. Listen, show them mercy. Your kids, now listen to me very carefully, because there still needs to be consequences. You are discipling your God disciples those whom He loves. But on the same hand, show them mercy. Be moved with deep compassion. Understand that discipling, disciplining, which is the same word in Greek, is done to grow. It's done so that when they are old, okay, they'll be able to operate in a world without you. That's your goal. But show them mercy. I get it. Sometimes they don't shut up. I'm about to spend 16 hours with my kids in one car. This is God going, hey Josh, did you listen to your own sermon today? Your coworkers. I get it. Some of y'all got them co-workers, right? Some of y'all work with your family, so be careful on this. But you got them co-workers that you're like, good for nothing, they're always sticking me with. They're just never show them mercy. Come alongside of them. Be moved with compassion and do action. And go, hey, is there something I can do to help out? But your challenge is to find one person every day this week and show them mercy. Your challenge is to be moved with a deep compassion to those around you that causes action and show them mercy. Maybe that's someone personal in your life. Maybe that's the person on the off ramp. Those of you that remember Citigroup, y'all remember them like four o'clock in the morning arguments about should you or should you not give money to someone on the side of the road? And I get it. Well, what if they drink it up? That's not on you. Your goal is to be merciful. Because what if they go get a burger? What if that's the only meal they've had all day? Yeah, and if they go get a beer, guess what? They live under a bridge. Let them have it. They're not in a house. They don't have a family that loves them. If they did, guess where they wouldn't be? Show them mercy. Show them compassion. Do it for the least of these. Maybe you're sitting here going, I need to get involved. I need to give my time, my talents, my treasure. We have plenty here. What do you want to give to? And again, I can care less about your money. That's not what I'm after. I'm sitting here going, some of you, you need to start finding ways to extend mercy. You need to go, hey, here's what I'm good at. Here's what I do. How can this show mercy to others? Because again, if we showed mercy, if we were merciful, what would the world look like? What would our house look like? What would our city look like? And honestly, if you want mercy, guess what Jesus says? You have to be merciful. Otherwise, it's depart from me. Because it's impossible to experience his mercy and not pour it out. So, Father, I just thank you so much for your mercy. With the great love in which you loved us, that you have made us alive together with Christ, for by grace we have been saved. And Father, I ask and I pray, because of that salvation that you and you alone have given, that Father, you allow us to be merciful. You put that compassion in us. You give us your eyes to see others. And that Father, with that deep compassion and mercy we have, I ask and I pray for action, for boldness, for people to stop looking at themselves, Father, and start seeking and saving what is lost. Father, I ask as every single one of us move throughout this week that we find that person, that one person a day that we can extend mercy to, that we can be merciful. And Father, I ask that it doesn't stop there, but that is just our starting place. Father, I thank you for the gifts that you have given us. And I ask and I pray, God, that we just steward those gifts for the glory of your kingdom. Father, we pray all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.